I listened to an interview with Anthony Bourdain the other day. Bourdain was (inevitably) asked about his favorite meal and he said something about a bowl of pasta and a hunk of bread and a glass of wine. Which is oddly close to my own, except for the wine, which I don’t drink. Earlier in the interview, Bourdain talked about how chefs often just want to eat something that approximates a homecooked meal.
I’m not Italian. I stole my sauce recipe from my mother and she’s not Italian either: Newman’s Own Sockarooni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, garlic, bit of olive oil. Bourdain described his favorite sauce as plum tomatoes, onions, bit of garlic, olive oil, and maybe sausage, cooked quickly and spread over pasta.
I tried to split the bill, to make something that stayed true to my mother’s original recipe and incorporated Bourdain’s too. So half Newman’s, half canned plum tomatoes, on top of onions and garlic and oil. I ended up with this, which was good enough I guess, but not quite right. Maybe I added too much stuff. Maybe I didn’t have the balance right. On spaghetti night though - the night that remains, a lifetime later, my favorite meal of the menu - I want it to be right. Back to the drawing board.
